MUSIC VIDEOS: MEDIA LANGUAGE

 PREP Explain how music videos use media language to promote their artists. Refer to the pair of music videos you have studied from the list below in your answer.

Our music videos are Wheatus Teenage Dirtbag Avril Lavigne Sk8ter Boi

HOW TO ANSWER: Media language points to consider:

the prioritising of the star / the group; the privileging of the star / the groups in the frame

authenticating the star's performance / the band's performance to show their skills

the use of close ups; lip syncing to camera; eye contact with the audience

 

In the music video "Wheatus" it is clear who the main band is. We see close ups of the lead singer, the drummer, the guitarist and the bass guitar. the close up shows us who the main people are in the music video, and who we need to be looking at. Close up shots also allow us to see the lip syncing and direct eye contact of the artist on the camera, when the artist stares deeply into the camera we automatically think that they are the star of the video, which is what we are wanted to know to help promote the artist In "teenage dirtbag" the band is singing but also someone is acting to relate to the words of the song. We again have a close up of the Teenage Dirtbag to show us that this is the boy they are talking about in the song.   We see a panning shot of the band to highlight who is in the band and to show us the whole band itself, these two shots also show us to see the bands skills and what they can do with their instruments, which proves to us that it is the band playing the song. In the shots of the band there is a big crowd gathered around them enjoying the bands music, this emphasises that they are the main important artists in the video. 

In "sk8ter boi" it is made very clear that Avril Lavigne is the main person of the video. We see lots of close ups of her and her actions, she makes direct eye contact with the camera highlighting to us that she is the main character and the artist of this song. Her eye contact can also come across as quite intimidating as it makes it seem as though she owns the place and she wants us to know that. We get panning shots of her and her band while they perform on top of the car, which is also followed by a whole crowd of people around them enjoying their music. We are also presented with close ups of the bands skills, we see each member doing their part, shown by a close up shot. Avril laviegne is lip syncing the song which shows to us that she is the singer/artist. It emphasises to us that this is her music and no one elses. 

 

MUSIC MAGAZINES: MEDIA LANGUAGE

 

Look carefully at the front covers of MOJO and RNR magazines. 

QUESTION: How far do MOJO and RNR use different media language to create different connotations? (CONNOTATION meaning: an idea or quality that a word makes you think about in addition to its meaning.)

Answer on your blog. This is a high-value question and should take all lesson to answer. You can use the class blog search engine for more examples of how to analyse music magazines.

In your answer you should have 2 paragraphs:

• analyse the media language in MOJO and RNR magazine. 'Media language' includes the placement of the main image, the type of photography, lighting, colours, fonts, how busy or restrained the cover is, the layout (such as alignment to the margins), how serious or playful 
• make judgements and draw conclusions about how far the media language is used differently in both extracts to create different connotations. Are there similarities in both covers? What sorts of audiences are they targeting? You could think about MOJO's rock aesthetic of living loud and dangerously compared to RNR's folk, rock, blues vibe. 

In the mojo magazine, there is lots of bright, electric colours, which pops out at you and grabs your attention. For example the words "Foo Fighters", which is printed onto the magazine, has a bold red and white colours with a font, they have placed it into the middle of the cover to make sure it has your attention. David Grolh is in the middle of the cover, with his hands reaching as, as if they are holding the words "Foo Fighters". David is shown as quite aggressive as his face is all scrunched up, one eye brow up and he is showing his teeth off to the camera. The cover has many different pictures, titles and statements and this makes it a very busy cover. Towards the bottom of the cover, there is a neon and vibrant green CD cover, this really pops out the reader cause of the neon colours. The lighting is very harsh and bright which presents Dave appear striking and bold to the viewer. The quote 'We've been to funerals, we've been to jail...' presents Dave as very hardcore and brave and also shows how devoted Dave is to his music and how far he would go for it. It makes him seem the bad boy, who fought for his music.

In the RNR magazine, there are lots of neutral colours like brown and white that give a more neutral tone to the cover. Christy Moore has a slight smile on his face and the lighting is very warm and kind presenting him as a heart-warming and loving person. The cover is very plain and nothing exciting or eye catching is on it. The quote 'These days it's yoga, camomile tea and three Our Fathers' shows that Christy is a very simple and basic man who does the everyday things that most people do. In the bottom left there is a simple CD cover with a slight pun of 'Un-herd' which relates to the zebra in the corner and being 'un-heard of'. This presents Christy as kind and funny. This cover is more simple and boring compared to the MOJO one which has bright colours and popping images that catch the eyes of each reader.